Mail box signal



Jan. 8, 1935. w. 1.. DYSART 1,986,922

MAIL BOX S IGNAL Filed Aug. 7, 1953 patented Jan. 8 l

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAIL SIGNAL William Luther Dysart,Louisville, Ky.

' Application August 7, 1933, Serial No. 684,067

.1 Claim. (01. 232-34) This invention has for its object the provisionhandle may be moved easily from end to end of of a very simple andinexpensivesignal for use the slot and may be seated in either notch sothat upon rural delivery mail boxes whereby the carit will be set topresent its side or its edge to rier may be advised as to whether the.mail box view from the corresponding dwelling, or to the containsletters to be taken up, and may indicate "view of the carrierapproaching the box. Any to the occupants of the adjacent dwelling thatrain ormoisture which may work into the post mail has been deposited inthe'box. The invenwill escape through the slot 12 or the drain opentionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing ling 4. and will behereinafter fully described, the novel When the owner of the mail boxdeposits mail features being particularly defined in the apin the box tobe taken up by the carrier, he will 10 Y pended claim. v 1 grasp thehandle 11 and turn it to such a posi- In the drawing, l tion that thesignal plate 10 "will present its side Figure 1 is an elevation of amail box having my to the view of the carrier approaching the box.improved signal applied thereto, t Thesignal will thus be plainlyvisible to the car- Figure 2 is an ged. vertical sectionof the rier andhe will know that mail has been placed signal, and 1 a in the box to becollected by him. If the carrier Figure 3 is a detail section on theline 3-3 of v has mail to be delivered to the owner of the box, Figure2. i he will vplace said mail in the box and then turn The mail box 1may be of the usual or anypre: the signal so that the side of the signalplate ferred de In Carrying Out the present in: will be presented to theview of the occupants of through this opening after being engaged in thevention, there is provided a post 2 which is formed theadjacent dwellingo t t they 111 underwith a base 0 t 3 pt 11 rest p t D stand that mailhas been left for someone in the of the box and impart stability tothepost, the house D 5 having a Centralbore Opening throughits Thedevice is exceedingly simple and may be 25 upper end and having a drainPassage 4 leading readily observed by-interested persons inasmuch 25through its side from the lower end of the bore. as it is mounted uponthe top of the box and is In mmmting the device mail bOX an not hiddenby the side of the box from any point opemng mdlcated at formed throughthe of View. The base serves to establish a very firm top of the box andlag screw 7 is inserted footing upon the box so that the post may be 10wer end of the post a nut 8 being mounted easily secured to the box andwill be firmly held upon the lower end of the screw and turned homeagamst dls lodgment' slgnal Shaft may P against the underside of the topof the box so as easlly at an tlfnes the 9 9 to firmly secure the devicein position, as will be tutFS Y substantlal housmg for Shaft understoodupon reference to Figure 2. A shaft which W111 effeQtuanY P e 113 fromWeather 35 9 is disposed vertically within the po t d 1 elements andprevent its operation being clogged journaled in the bore thereof, theupper portion by any Collect on Of snow or other matter. 'of the shaftrising from the postfand carrying a Having thus described the invention,I claim:

signal plate 10. The signalplate may be given A signal for the purposeset forth comprising a 40 any preferred outline andis illustrated as adart post, a fastening device insertable through the 40 or arrowpointing downwardly. The plate will top of a mail box and carried bythe. lower end preferably be formed of sheet metal and will preof thepost to secure the device upon the box, a sent its edge or its side toan observer, according vertical signal shaft rotatably fitted within averto the position of the observer and the position tical bore in saidpost, the shaft rising beyond in which the signal is set. In order thatthe the upper end of the post, a signal carried by the 45 signal may beset in adesired position, a handle shaft above the post, the post havinga hori- 11 is firmly secured to the shaft 9 and extends zontal slot inits side and depending notches at radially therefrom through a slot .12provided the ends of the slot, anda handle fixed to the h e n e p as yQW h S1013 shaft and extending radially through said slot 0 s h w t c yi i u e 3, extends and engageable in the notches at the ends of throu hone-quarter of the circumference of the the slot to set the signal andhold it in a set posipost and, as shown in Figure 1, a downturned ti n,notch 13 is provided at each end of the slot. The WILLIAM LUTHER DYsg T,[1,. .11

